Siemens has announced a new academic teaching programme focused on Industry 4.0. in partnership with UK universities.

The launch of Connected Curriculum has already secured participation from leading institutions including The University of Sheffield, Liverpool John Moores, Middlesex University, Newcastle University and Manchester Metropolitan University, along with automation technology and technical training supplier Festo.

The aim is to bring advanced industrial tools, data and approaches into the universities' respective apprenticeship, undergraduate and masters courses.

Key to the Connected Curriculum is Siemens Digital Industries software portfolio and cloud-based IoT platform MindSphere, a secure operating system which connects industrial machines and devices via IoT protocols. It allows data from multiple sources to be captured and analysed simultaneously, creating a real-time picture of the whole production process via a single, intuitive interface.

The news came during the recent 2019 MindSphere Innovation Network (MINe) Symposium at the University of Sheffield, just 18-months after Siemens launched MINe in partnership with higher education providers. Since its inception, the programme has engaged with over 50 businesses on more than 20 projects and identified a need to build the digital skills base across companies and education.

Brian Holliday, Siemens Digital Industries Managing Director, said: “Collaboration is central to delivering successful, robust and secure industrial IoT projects. Universities can be key partners in this process, often having expertise industry doesn’t such as data science, visualisation and insights into human behaviour including how people engage with technology."

Professor Mike Hounslow, Vice-President and Head of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sheffield, spoke of the delight in having Siemens launch the curriculum at Sheffield, one of the first UK universities to embed the programme into its teaching.

Partner university, Manchester Metropolitan University will be focusing on delivery of the Connected Curriculum to postgraduate students, embedding the programme in its six new Industry 4.0 Masters courses launching in September.

Professor Andy Gibson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Manchester Metropolitan University said the university is “focused on bridging the Industry 4.0 skills gap by equipping students with the skills for the new digital economy.”

Professor Sean Wellington, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of Faculty of Science and Technology at Middlesex University said he believes the curriculum will benefit the students and wider industry sector as a whole.

Babak Jahanbani from Didactic Services at Festo said by combining its innovative hardware packages with Siemens expertise through Connected Curriculum, Festo believes it has created “a unique off-the-shelf package for Industry 4.0.”